Plant Science Colloquium with Dr. Henk WM Hillhorst

Some Angiosperms are known to tolerate loss of 95% of their cellular water, without dying, not dissimilar to seeds. Vegetative desiccation tolerance (DT) first arose with the transition from aquatic to terrestrial life forms, but it was lost as plants acquired mechanisms for drought resistance. DT was then confined to seeds, spores, and pollen grains The molecular mechanisms and their regulation underlying this remarkable ability are potentially useful to design tolerant crops. Since most crops produce desiccation tolerant seeds, genomic information for this attribute is present but inactive in vegetative parts of the plant. Based on recent evidence from both seeds and desiccation tolerant Angiosperms potential routes to 'flipping the switch' to vegetative desiccation tolerance in major crops are addressed.